Yesterday I had the great pleasure of, once again, speaking with Rick Cluff on CBC Vancouver’s “Early Edition” about the history pipeline hearings in Canada. Rick and I discussed the Mackenzie Valley pipeline inquiry (1974-1977) and how it compared to the current hearings on the Enbridge-proposed Northern Gateway oil pipeline. Specifically, Rick was interested in how the unusual structure of the hearings in Victoria and Vancouver compare to the work of Justice Thomas Berger during the inquiry in the 1970s. While hundreds of northerners (especially northern First Nations people) and southerners came out to testify before the inquiry and many opposed the pipeline project, Berger’s commission never sought to sequester the audience in the same manner as the National Energy Board has done in Victoria for the Northern Gateway pipeline hearings.

This short clip from the CBC Digital Archive provides a sense of what the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline inquiry looked like in the 1970s and it outlines the main issues surrounding the project.